Uncategorized – Page 52 – Living Wonderously

I was invited today to tag along with 3 leaders from the Albuquerque Senior Centers’ Hiking Groups on a hike in the San Pedro Parks Wilderness Area. One of the ladies was scheduled to lead the hike there next week. She was not familiar with the trail, but she knew that Sue was familiar with the area and could also give her some pointers on how to use her GPS device. Driving to the trailhead, about 10 miles from our destination parking spot, we encountered the above sign. We knew right away that it had been a wise decision to preview the hike the week before the senior’s group with a van full of unsuspecting hikers would run into this roadblock.

The leaders put their heads together and consulted their Santa Fe National Forest map and came up with an alternate plan. We did some backtracking and found another trailhead that is used by the group on other hikes. Not only did we get a beautiful 7.5-mile hike out of the deal, but the leader collected the GPS data, the driving data, and a hike description that can be used to create a new hike for the seniors to do in this area.

I was amazed at how green everything was in the surrounding forests and meadows. The wildflowers were out in abundance. A couple of times we could hear the sounds of a nearby elk herd, and at one point, we even spotted a couple of mothers and their calves at the edge of a meadow making their way up a wooded slope. I’m thankful that I was invited to tag along and learn about this part of the Santa Fe National Forest. Lee and I will definitely be adding this to our list of wonderful hiking opportunities in the Albuquerque area.

IMG_20140617_131953108 — Our turnaround point at the Rio De Las Vacas where we sat by the stream and had our lunch.

GPS Track on Every Trail

We knew that if we picked a hike at a higher elevation we would beat the record-setting heat we’ve had this week here in Albuquerque. But we didn’t expect that we’d have to tromp through leftover snowbanks, sometimes sinking down to our knees in snow, to reach our chosen destination, the top of Deception Peak.

The start of this hike is at the Santa Fe Ski Area and when we parked the car we could look up at the slopes and see a few patches of leftover snow. But by the time that the trail winds its way up Raven’s Ridge you are on the backside of the mountain and in an area of dense trees not reached by enough sunlight to have yet melted the deeper snowbanks. We could avoid some of the snow by finding alternate trails but, at times, when we looked ahead and saw even larger piles we wondered if we’d have to turn around.

But we kept going. Before getting to the top the trail emerges from the trees and at that point, where there is another half mile or so of ascent over a bare, rocky slope, there wasn’t any more snow to contend with. Once we enjoyed lunch and the glorious views from the top it didn’t seem so bad on the way down to go back through the snow again. Especially since we knew that when we got back to Albuquerque the temperature would be well over 90 degrees. It’s so amazing that you can live here in the desert and then with a little over an hour of driving, combined with 3 miles of hiking, you can be playing in the snow.